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- This is a draft essay and is open to editing by all Wikipedia editors in good standing. Participation from those interested in deletion discussions and other aspects of Wikipedia management is especially welcome.
In discussions here and here (Sept. 2009), the community looked at whether Good articles (GAs) and Featured articles (FAs) are exempt from deletion discussions (AfD).
While there was no firm consensus on forming any rules or even if any new rules were needed, most editors agreed that using common sense with judicious use of ignore all rules was the way to go. As Allen3 (talk · contribs) put it, "a properly written article is its own best defense against deletion."
While it is rare for a Good or Featured article to be at AfD, it does happen. When it happens, it is probably for one of the following reasons:
Flawed nomination
- Bad faith nomination. These are easily dealt with.
Flawed featured article status
- Previously undetected hoax, copyright violation, or other fraudulently earned status or fraudulent article.
- An article that at one time met the Good Article or Featured Article criteria, but which due to subsequent edits and changes in the criteria, not only no longer meets the criteria but also may not be worth keeping in Wikipedia, at least not in its current form.
Notability and content-related issues
- Articles that may be well sourced in terms of verifying the information in the article, but where on closer inspection there is doubt that the sources prove notability of the subject.[1]
- Cases where there is disagreement over whether the subject of an article would be better covered as a section of a larger article, rather than a stand-alone article. Note that such cases might have been brought to AfD in error, as AfD is not for merge discussions.[1]
If you are planning on nominating an article for deletion
- Can you improve it or find an older version that is good enough to meet current Good- or Featured- article criteria? If so, do it.
- Can you improve it or find an older version that is good enough to address your concerns but not good enough to meet current GA or FA criteria? If so, do it, and send the article to Good Article Review or Featured Article Review for demotion or improvement.
- Is a merge or other editorial change more appropriate?
These recommendations may help when dealing with a Good or Featured Article at AFD:
- Is the nomination in good faith? If not, treat it as any other bad-faith nomination.
- Is the article a newly-discovered hoax, copyright violation, or other seriously flawed article and there is no way to rescue it? If possible, revert to a previous version, correct the problem, or rewrite the article. Otherwise, consider whether it is eligible for speedy deletion, and tag it accordingly. If the article can not be speedily deleted, ignore all rules and summarily remove any fraudulently earned status. Put a note on Wikipedia Talk:Featured articles or Wikipedia talk:Good articles saying what you did and why.
- Advertise the pending deletion on all relevant WikiProjects and on Wikipedia Talk:Featured articles or Wikipedia talk:Good articles and Wikipedia talk:Article Rescue Squadron
- Can the article be easily improved to address the nominator's concern? Improve the article and ask that the nomination be withdrawn or at state that his concerns have been met.
- Is there an older version that is better than the current version which doesn't have the flaws that landed it at AfD? Consider reverting then merging in newer, useful material.
- Is the article something that would go down in flames at AfD and there is no way to rescue it? Consider ignoring all rules and summarily stripping it of its FA or GA status. Ignoring all rules is not to be taken lightly: There should be at least a day of discussion with several editors participating and no objection before stripping a properly earned GA or FA status without a review, the article and all previous versions should be so seriously flawed that they would fail any good- or featured-article review against the current criteria and are not worth rebuilding to current FA or GA status. If possible, get the article at least good enough to survive the deletion discussion.
- Before and after discussing whether to remove the GA or FA status without a formal review, put a note on Wikipedia Talk:Featured articles or Wikipedia talk:Good articles.
- Don't be afraid to recommend "keep (or merge) and continue discussion on article talk pages, WikiProject pages, or elsewhere."
If the article survives AfD and has not been demoted under ignore all rules:
- Does the article currently meet the current criteria for its current GA or FA status? If not, either improve the article so it does or send it to featured article review or good article review
- If the article is a featured article and it fails Featured Article Review, does it meet the current good article criteria? If not, can it be improved so that it does?
If the article survives AfD and has been demoted:
- Consider rebuilding the article to its former status. Every article wants to be a featured article.